Cumincad : CUMINCAD Papers : Search Results

CumInCAD is a Cumulative Index about publications in Computer Aided Architectural Design
supported by the sibling associations ACADIA, CAADRIA, eCAADe, SIGraDi, ASCAAD and CAAD futures

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_id	e8fe
authors	Nagakura, Takehiko
year	1990
title	Shape Recognition and Transformation: A Script-Based Approach
source	The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [CAAD Futures ‘89 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-262-13254-0] Cambridge (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, pp. 149-170
summary	Design evolves. Architects deploy considerable knowledge to develop their designs from one stage to the next. Drawings play a major role in describing the 11 state" of design at each stage; however, they do not explicitly reveal the knowledge used to achieve the design, for the knowledge is concealed in the "process" between these stages rather than in the drawings themselves. This process involves parametric and schematic transformations as well as perception of unanticipated possibilities emerging from the drawings in progress. To make an impact on design, CAD must address these issues of design knowledge, but so far its focus has been instead on drawings as relatively static collections of graphic primitives. This paper introduces the concepts of shapes and shape transformation as fundamental aspects of design knowledge. It is implemented on a computer program in the form of a prototype shape-scripting language. In summary, this language works as a shell to encode a set of shape categories and their transformations, and it enables progressive shape recognition and shape transformation in line drawings. An appropriate set of these encoded transformations may represent a body of syntactic knowledge about an architectural style. This opens up the exciting possibility of a computational implementation of a shape grammar.
series	CAAD Futures
last changed	1999/04/03 17:58

_id	5509
authors	Koutamanis, Alexandros
year	1990
title	Development of a computerized handbook of architectural plans
source	Delft University of Technology
summary	The dissertation investigates an approach to the development of visual / spatial computer representations for architectural purposes through the development of the computerized handbook of architectural plans (chap), a knowledge-based computer system capable of recognizing the metric properties of architectural plans. This investigation can be summarized as an introduction of computer vision to the computerization of architectural representations: chap represents an attempt to automate recognition of the most essential among conventional architectural drawings, floor plans. The system accepts as input digitized images of architectural plans and recognizes their spatial primitives (locations) and their spatial articulation on a variety of abstraction levels. The final output of chap is a description of the plan in terms of the grouping formations detected in its spatial articulation. The overall structure of the description is based on an analysis of its conformity to the formal rules of its “stylistic” context (which in the initial version of chap is classical architecture). Chapter 1 suggests that the poor performance of computerized architectural drawing and design systems is among others evidence of the necessity to computerize visual / spatial architectural representations. A recognition system such as chap offers comprehensive means for the investigation of a methodology for the development and use of such representations. Chapter 2 describes a fundamental task of chap: recognition of the position and shape of locations, the atomic parts of the description of an architectural plan in chap. This operation represents the final and most significant part of the first stage in processing an image input in machine environment. Chapter 3 moves to the next significant problem, recognition of the spatial arrangement of locations in an architectural plan, that is, recognition of grouping relationships that determine the subdivision of a plan into parts. In the absence of systematic and exhaustive typologic studies of classical architecture that would allow us to define a repertory of the location group types possible in classical architectural plans, Chapter 3 follows a bottom-up approach based on grouping relationships derived from elementary architectural knowledge and formalized with assistance from Gestalt theory and its antecedents. The grouping process described in Chapter 3 corresponds both in purpose and in structure to the derivation of a description of an image in computer vision [Marr 1982]. Chapter 4 investigates the well-formedness of the description of a classical architectural plan in an analytical manner: each relevant level (or sublevel) of the classical canon according to Tzonis & Lefaivre [1986] is transformed into a single group of criteria of well-formedness which is investigated independently. The hierarchical structure of the classical canon determines the coordination of these criteria into a sequence of cognitive filters which progressively analyses the correspondence of the descriptions derived as in Chapter 3 to the constraints of the canon. The methodology and techniques presented in the dissertation are primarily considered with respect to chap, a specific recognition system. The resulting specification of chap gives a measure of the use of such a system within the context of a computerized collection of architectural precedents and also presents several extensions to other areas of architecture. Although these extensions are not considered as verifiable claims, Chapter 5 describes some of their implications, including on the role of architectural drawing in computerized design systems, on architectural typologies, and on the nature and structure of generative systems in architecture.
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	sigradi2006_e183a
id	sigradi2006_e183a
authors	Costa Couceiro, Mauro
year	2006
title	La Arquitectura como Extensión Fenotípica Humana - Un Acercamiento Basado en Análisis Computacionales [Architecture as human phenotypic extension – An approach based on computational explorations]
source	SIGraDi 2006 - [Proceedings of the 10th Iberoamerican Congress of Digital Graphics] Santiago de Chile - Chile 21-23 November 2006, pp. 56-60
summary	The study describes some of the aspects tackled within a current Ph.D. research where architectural applications of constructive, structural and organization processes existing in biological systems are considered. The present information processing capacity of computers and the specific software development have allowed creating a bridge between two holistic nature disciplines: architecture and biology. The crossover between those disciplines entails a methodological paradigm change towards a new one based on the dynamical aspects of forms and compositions. Recent studies about artificial-natural intelligence (Hawkins, 2004) and developmental-evolutionary biology (Maturana, 2004) have added fundamental knowledge about the role of the analogy in the creative process and the relationship between forms and functions. The dimensions and restrictions of the Evo-Devo concepts are analyzed, developed and tested by software that combines parametric geometries, L-systems (Lindenmayer, 1990), shape-grammars (Stiny and Gips, 1971) and evolutionary algorithms (Holland, 1975) as a way of testing new architectural solutions within computable environments. It is pondered Lamarck´s (1744-1829) and Weismann (1834-1914) theoretical approaches to evolution where can be found significant opposing views. Lamarck´s theory assumes that an individual effort towards a specific evolutionary goal can cause change to descendents. On the other hand, Weismann defended that the germ cells are not affected by anything the body learns or any ability it acquires during its life, and cannot pass this information on to the next generation; this is called the Weismann barrier. Lamarck’s widely rejected theory has recently found a new place in artificial and natural intelligence researches as a valid explanation to some aspects of the human knowledge evolution phenomena, that is, the deliberate change of paradigms in the intentional research of solutions. As well as the analogy between genetics and architecture (Estévez and Shu, 2000) is useful in order to understand and program emergent complexity phenomena (Hopfield, 1982) for architectural solutions, also the consideration of architecture as a product of a human extended phenotype can help us to understand better its cultural dimension.
keywords	evolutionary computation; genetic architectures; artificial/natural intelligence
series	SIGRADI
email
last changed	2016/03/10 09:49

_id	8a0c
authors	Tan, Milton
year	1990
title	Saying What It Is by What It Is Like - Describing Shapes Using Line Relationships
source	The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [CAAD Futures ‘89 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-262-13254-0] Cambridge (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, pp. 201-213
summary	Shapes - taken as well-defined collections of lines - are fundamental building blocks in architectural drawings. From doodles to shop drawings, shapes are used to denote ideas and represent elements of design, many of which ultimately translate into actual objects. But because designs evolve, the shapes representing a design are seldom static - instead, they are perpetually open to transformations. And since transformations involve relationships, conventional methods of describing shapes as sets of discrete endpoints may not provide an appropriate foundation for schematic design. This paper begins with a review of the perception of shapes and its significance in design. In particular, it argues that juxtapositions and inter-relationships of shapes are important seedbeds for creative development of designs. It is clear that conventional representation of shapes as sets of discrete lines does not cope with these -emergent" subshapes; the most basic of which arise out of intersecting and colinear lines. Attempts to redress this by using ‘reduction rules’ based on traditional point-and-line data structures are encumbered by computational problems of precision and shape specification. Basically, this means that some ‘close’ cases of sub-shapes may escape detection and their specifications are difficult to use in substitution operations. The paper presents the findings of a computer project - Emergence II - which explored a 'relational' description of shapes based on the concept of construction lines. It builds on the notion that architectural shapes are constructed in a graphic context and that, at a basic compositional level, the context can be set by construction lines. Accordingly, the interface enables the delineation of line segments with reference to pre-established construction lines. This results in a simple data structure where the knowledge of shapes is centralized in a lookup table of all its construction lines rather than dispersed in the specifications of line segments. Taking this approach, the prototype software shows the ease and efficiency of applying ‘reduction rules’ for intersection and colinear conditions, and for finding emergent sub-shapes by simply tracking the construction lines delimiting the ends of line segments.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	c4db
authors	Tan, Milton
year	1990
title	Closing in on an Open Problem: Reasons and a Strategy to Encode Emergent Subshapes
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1990.005
source	From Research to Practice [ACADIA Conference Proceedings] Big Sky (Montana - USA) 4-6 October 1990, pp. 5-19
summary	The interpretation of drawings, by breaking them into subshapes and classifying these subshapes, is an essential part of creative designing. Drawings must be open to different interpretations - i.e. different decompositions into parts, and classification of these parts in different ways - but conventional CAD systems do not readily allow this. Their data structures are too inflexible, and they do not provide subshape or implied-shape recognition capabilities. This paper discusses the centrality of emergent forms in the design process and proposes a datastructure based on construction lines and ordered lists which enables shapes as collection of lines and arcs to be efficiently encoded. The strategy to build a design tool around this data structure is also presented.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:56

_id	1e97
authors	Wojtowicz, Jerzy
year	1990
title	Aspects of design logic and Le Corbusier's universe of forms
source	Harvard University, Graduate School of Design
summary	Generation of form in architectural design tends to become a highly structured process when computational tools are engaged. The objective of this study was to develop an alternative way of designing with a computer--one that is not framed by assumptions of monotonicity and determinism. To realize this aim the case study method was chosen. It was followed by formalization and design etudes rooted in a specific corpus of significant design work. A corpus of work was isolated from Le Corbusier's Oeuvre complete to serve as the vehicle for: (a) Construction, using shape grammar rules of a dynamic model of a concise design world. (b) Analysis of the process of rupture and dialectic which results in the fundamental transformation of the design world. (c) Generation of existing and new examples in the given language. (d) Examination of the limitations of the shape grammar formalism and proposal of alternatives formalisms based on non-monotonic logic. Le Corbusier's purist tradition, selected as the corpus for this study, is characterized by formal continuity followed by a sudden rupture in its formal language. The issue of change and collapse of one design world into a new one was therefore the focus of the investigation. The method that was developed interprets the formal procedure of examining the architectural object as 'reading' and the procedure of generating the architectural object as 'writing'. Design is seen as a continuous feedback loop between reading and writing within the boundaries of a given universe of forms. This is demonstrated by abstracting an architectural vocabulary and compositional rules from Le Corbusier's purist work, translating the vocabulary into a set of computer models, and using the computer to transform and recompose these elements into new designs.
keywords	Data Processing; Composition; Proportion; Data Processing
series	thesis:PhD
email
last changed	2003/03/11 09:59

_id	2224
authors	McCall, Raymond J.
year	1990
title	PHI : A Conceptual Foundation For Design Hypermedia
source	1990? 12 p. : ill. includes bibliography
summary	PHI (Procedural Hierarchy of Issues) extends the IBIS ( Issue-Based Information System) method developed by Rittel to support an argumentative approach to design. PHI extend that approach, because it uses an additional argumentative process and deals with a greater range of design issues. PHI has recently gained recognition as the conceptual foundation for a number of design hypermedia systems
keywords	argumentation, design, hypermedia, systems, methods, systems
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	8775
authors	Cigolle, Mark and Coleman, Kim
year	1990
title	Computer Integrated Design: Transformation as Process
source	The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [CAAD Futures ‘89 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-262-13254-0] Cambridge (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, pp. 333-346
summary	To bring together poetry, magic and science, to explore beyond preconceptions, to invent spaces and forms which re-form and inform man's experience, these are the possibilities of architecture. Computer integrated design offers a means for extending the search, one which integrates both conceptual and perceptual issues in the making of architecture. The computer may assist in generating constructs which would not have been created by conventional methods. The application of computer techniques to design has to date been focused primarily on production aspects, an area which is already highly organizable and communicable. In conceptual and perceptual aspects of design, computer techniques remain underdeveloped. Since the impetus for- the development of computer applications has come from the immediate economics of practice rather than a theoretically based strategy, computer-aided design is currently biased toward the replication of conventional techniques rather than the exploration of new potentials. Over the last two years we have been involved in experimentation with methodologies which engage the computer in formative explorations of the design idea. Work produced from investigations by 4th and 5th year undergraduate students in computer integrated design studios that we have been teaching at the University of Southern California demonstrates the potential for the use of the computer as a principal tool in the exploration of syntax and perception, space and program. The challenge is to approach the making of architecture as an innovative act, one which does not rely on preconceived notions of design.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	8bf3
authors	McCullough, M., Mitchell, W.J. and Purcell, P. (Eds.)
year	1990
title	The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [Conference Proceedings]
source	International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design 1989/ ISBN 0-262-13254-0] (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, 505 p.
summary	Design is the computation of shape information that is needed to guide fabrication or construction of artifacts. But it is not so straightforward as, say, the computation of numerical information required to balance a checkbook. This is partly because algebras of shapes are not as well understood and precisely formalized as algebras of numbers, partly because the rules for carrying out shape computations tend to be fluid and ill defined and partly because the predicates that must be satisfied to achieve successful termination are often complex and difficult to specify. For centuries architects have carried out shape computations by hand, using informal procedures and the simplest of tools. Over the last two decades though, they have made increasing use of more formal procedures executed by computers. It is still too early to be sure of the gains and losses that follow from this development, but there is no doubt that it raises some challenging questions of architectural theory and some perplexing issues for those concerned with the future of architectural education. This book frames those issues and provides a diversity of perspectives on them. Its contents were initially presented at the CAAD Futures 89 Conference-an international gathering of researchers and teachers in the field of computer-aided architectural design which was jointly sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the MIT Department of Architecture and held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 1989. There are four major sections: Theoretical Foundations, Knowledge-Based Design Tools, Information Delivery Systems, and Case Studies: Electronic Media in the Design Studio. In a representative collection of current views, over thirty extensively illustrated papers discuss the experiences of universities in the USA, Europe, Japan, Israel, Canada, and Australia, articulate present theoretical and practical concerns, provide criticism of media and methods, and suggest directions for the future. Architectural educators and architects concerned with the effect of computer technology on the design process will find here an indispensable reference and a rich source of ideas. This book was itself prepared in an electronic design studio. Composition and typography, most image collection and placement, and such editing as was practical within this publishing format, were all performed digitally using Macintosh computers at the Harvard Graduate School of Design during a period of a few weeks in 1989.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	f507
authors	Mitchell, W.
year	1990
title	The Logic of Architecture: Design, Computation and Cognition
source	The MIT Press, Cambridge
summary	The Logic of Architecture is the first comprehensive, systematic, and modern treatment of the logical foundations of design thinking. It provides a detailed discussion of languages of architectural form, their specification by means of formal grammars, their interpretation, and their role in structuring design thinking. Supplemented by more than 200 original illustrations, The Logic of Architecture reexamines central issues of design theory in the light of recent advances in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and the theory of computation. The richness of this approach permits sympathetic and constructive analysis of positions developed by a wide range of theorists and philosophers from Socrates to the present. Mitchell first considers how buildings may be described in words and shows how such descriptions may be formalized by the notation of first order predicate calculus. This leads to the idea of a critical language for speaking about the qualities of buildings. Turning to the question of representation by drawings and scale models, Mitchell then develops the notion of design worlds that provide graphic tokens which can be manipulated according to certain grammatical rules. In particular, he shows how domains of graphic compositions possible in a design world may be specified by formal shape grammars. Design worlds and critical languages are connected by showing how such languages may be interpreted in design worlds. Design processes are then viewed as computations in a design world with the objective of satisfying predicates of form and function stated in a critical language.
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	e91f
authors	Mitchell, W.J., Liggett, R.S. and Tan, M.
year	1990
title	Top-Down Knowledge-Based Design
source	The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [CAAD Futures ‘89 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-262-13254-0] Cambridge (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, pp. 137-148
summary	Traditional computer drafting systems and three- dimensional geometric modeling systems work in bottom-up fashion. They provide a range of graphic primitives, such as vectors, arcs, and splines, together with operators for inserting, deleting, combining, and transforming instances of these. Thus they are conceptually very similar to word processors, with the difference that they operate on two- dimensional or three-dimensional patterns of graphic primitives rather than one-dimensional strings of characters. This sort of system is effective for input and editing of drawings or models that represent existing designs, but provides little more help than a pencil when you want to construct from scratch a drawing of some complex object such as a human figure, an automobile, or a classical column: you must depend on your own knowledge of what the pieces are and how to shape them and put them together. If you already know how to draw something then a computer drafting system will help you to do so efficiently, but if you do not know how to begin, or how to develop and refine the drawing, then the efficiency that you gain is of little practical consequence. And accelerated performance, flashier color graphics, or futuristic three-dimensional modes of interaction will not help with this problem at all. By contrast, experienced expert graphic artists and designers usually work in top-down fashion-beginning with a very schematic sketch of the whole object, then refining this, in step-by-step fashion, till the requisite level of precision and completeness is reached. For example, a figure drawing might begin as a "stick figure" schema showing lengths and angles of limbs, then be developed to show the general blocking of masses, and finally be resolved down to the finest details of contour and surface. Similarly, an architectural drawing might begin as a parti showing just a skeleton of construction lines, then be developed into a single-line floor plan, then a plan showing accurate wall thicknesses and openings, and finally a fully developed and detailed drawing.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	cdd3
authors	Mitchell, William J.
year	1990
title	A New Agenda For Computer-Aided Design
source	The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [CAAD Futures ‘89 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-262-13254-0] Cambridge (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, pp. 1-16
summary	Design is the computation of shape information that is needed to guide fabrication or construction of an artifact. This information normally specifies artifact topology (connections of vertices, edges, surfaces, and closed volumes), dimensions, angles, and tolerances on dimensions and angles. There may also be associations of symbols with subshapes to specify material and other such properties. The process of design takes different forms in different contexts, but the most usual computational operations are transformations (unary operations) and combinations (binary operations) of shapes in a two-dimensional drawing or a three-dimensional geometric model. An initial vocabulary of shapes, together with a repertoire of shape transformation and combination operators., establishes the shape algebra within which the computation takes place. The computation terminates successfully when it can be shown that certain predicates are satisfied by a shape produced by recursively applying the transformation and combination operators to the initial vocabulary. These predicates are usually stated in symbolic (verbal or numerical) form. Thus determination of whether a predicate is satisfied usually involves producing a numerical or verbal interpretation of a drawing, then deriving inferences from this interpretation by applying rules or formulae.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	0565
authors	Oxman, Robert and Oxman, Rivka
year	1990
title	The Computability of Architectural Knowledge
source	The Electronic Design Studio: Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era [CAAD Futures ‘89 Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-262-13254-0] Cambridge (Massachusetts / USA), 1989, pp. 171-185
summary	In an important contribution to the theoretical foundation of design computing, Mitchell noted "an increasingly urgent need to establish a demonstrably sound, comprehensive, rigorously formalized theoretical foundation upon which to base practical software development efforts" (Mitchell, 1986). In this paper we propose such a theoretical framework. A basic assumption of this work is that the advancement of design computing is dependent upon the emergence of a rigorous formulation of knowledge in design. We present a model of knowledge in architectural design which suggests a promising conceptual basis for dealing with knowledge in computer-aided design systems. We require models which can represent the formal knowledge and manipulative operations of the designer in all of their complexity-that is formal models rather than just geometric models. Shape Grammars (Stiny,1980) represent an example of such models, and constitute a relatively high level of design knowledge as compared to, for example, use of symmetry operations to generate simple formal configurations. Building upon an understanding of the classes of design knowledge as the conceptual basis for formal modeling systems may contribute a new realization of the potential of the medium for design. This will require a comprehensive approach to the definition of architectural and design knowledge. We consider here the implications of a well-defined body of architectural and design knowledge for design education and the potential mutual interaction-in a knowledge-rich environment-of design learning and CAAD learning. The computational factors connected with the representation of design knowledge and its integration in design systems are among the key problems of CAAD. Mitchell's model of knowledge in design incorporates formal knowledge in a comprehensive, multi-level, hierarchical structure in which types of knowledge are correlated with computational concepts. In the main focus of this paper we present a structured, multi-level model of design knowledge which we discuss with respect to current architectural theoretical considerations. Finally, we analyze the computational and educational relevance of such models.
series	CAAD Futures
email
last changed	2003/05/16 20:58

_id	f9e5
authors	Cherneff, Jonathan Martin
year	1990
title	Knowledge Based Interpretation of Architectural Drawings
source	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering, Cambridge, MA
summary	Architectural schematic drawings have been used to communicate building designs for centuries. The symbolic language used in these drawings efficiently represents much of the intricacy of the building process (e.g. implied business relationships, common building practice, and properties of construction materials). The drawing language is an accepted standard representation for building design, something that modern data languages have failed to achieve. In fact, the lack of an accepted standard electronic representation has hampered efforts at computer intergration and perhaps worsened industry fragmentation. In general, drawings must be interpreted, by a professional, and then reentered in order to transfer them from one CAD system to another. This work develops a method for machine interpretation of architectural (or other) schematic drawings. The central problem is to build an efficient drawing parser (i.e. a program that identifies the semantic entitites, characteristics, and relationships that are represented in the drawing). The parser is built from specifications of the drawing grammar and an underlying spatial model. The grammar describes what to look for, and the spatial model enables the parser to find it quickly. Coupled with existing optical recognition technology, this technique enables the use of drawings directly as: (1) a database to drive various AEC applications, (2) a communication protocol to integrate CAD systems, (3) a traditional user interface.
series	thesis:PhD
last changed	2003/02/12 22:37

_id	aea2
authors	Laurel, B. (ed.)
year	1990
title	The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design
source	New York: Addison-Wesley.
summary	Human-computer interface design is a new discipline. So new in fact, that Alan Kay of Apple Computer quipped that people "are not sure whether they should order it by the yard or the ton"! Irrespective of the measure, interface design is gradually emerging as a much-needed and timely approach to reducing the awkwardness and inconveniences of human-computer interaction. "Increased cognitive load", "bewildered and tired users" - these are the byproducts of the "plethora of options and the interface conventions" faced by computer users. Originally, computers were "designed by engineers, for engineers". Little or no attention was, or needed to be, paid to the interface. However, the pervasive use of the personal computer and the increasing number and variety of applications and programs has given rise to a need to focus on the "cognitive locus of human-computer interaction" i.e. the interface. What is the interface? Laurel defines the interface as a "contact surface" that "reflects the physical properties of the interactors, the functions to be performed, and the balance of power and control." (p.xiii) Incorporated into her definition are the "cognitive and emotional aspects of the user's experience". In a very basic sense, the interface is "the place where contact between two entities occurs." (p.xii) Doorknobs, steering wheels, spacesuits-these are all interfaces. The greater the difference between the two entities, the greater the need for a well-designed interface. In this case, the two very different entities are computers and humans. Human-conputer interface design looks at how we can lessen the effects of these differences. This means, for Laurel, empowering users by providing them with ease of use. "How can we think about it so that the interfaces we design will empower users?" "What does the user want to do?" These are the questions Laurel believes must be asked by designers. These are the questions addressed directly and indirectly by the approximately 50 contributors to The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design. In spite of the large number of contributors to the book and the wide range of fields with which they are associated, there is a broad consensus on how interfaces can be designed for empowerment and ease of use. User testing, user contexts, user tasks, user needs, user control: these terms appear throughout the book and suggest ways in which design might focus less on the technology and more on the user. With this perspective in mind, contributor D. Norman argues that computer interfaces should be designed so that the user interacts more with the task and less with the machine. Such interfaces "blend with the task", and "make tools invisible" so that "the technology is subervient to that goal". Sellen and Nicol insist on the need for interfaces that are 'simple', 'self-explanatory', 'adaptive' and 'supportive'. Contributors Vertelney and Grudin are interested in interfaces that support the contexts in which many users work. They consider ways in which group-oriented tasks and collaborative efforts can be supported and aided by the particular design of the interface. Mountford equates ease of use with understating the interface: "The art and science of interface design depends largely on making the transaction with the computer as transparent as possible in order to minimize the burden on the user".(p.248) Mountford also believes in "making computers more powerful extensions of our natural capabilities and goals" by offering the user a "richer sensory environment". One way this can be achieved according to Saloman is through creative use of colour. Saloman notes that colour can not only impart information but that it can be a useful mnemonic device to create associations. A richer sensory environment can also be achieved through use of sound, natural speech recognition, graphics, gesture input devices, animation, video, optical media and through what Blake refers to as "hybrid systems". These systems include additional interface features to control components such as optical disks, videotape, speech digitizers and a range of devices that support "whole user tasks". Rich sensory environments are often characteristic of game interfaces which rely heavily on sound and graphics. Crawford believes we have a lot to learn from the design of games and that they incorporate "sound concepts of user interface design". He argues that "games operate in a more demanding user-interface universe than other applications" since they must be both "fun" and "functional".
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	48fc
authors	Carrara, Gianfranco and Novembri, Gabriele
year	1990
title	Knowledge Assistant in the Process of Architectural Design
source	Building and Environment. 1990. 39 p. includes bibliography
summary	The article illustrates a methodological approach for the realization of a knowledge-based assistant for building and architectural design. The system is based on the concepts of constraint propagation, and uses the formal method of frames. The aim of the system is to cooperate 'interactively' with the designer in the various phases of this work
keywords	knowledge base, architecture, CAD, building, design, frames
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 13:58

_id	91c4
authors	Checkland, P.
year	1981
title	Systems Thinking, Systems Practice
source	John Wiley & Sons, Chichester
summary	Whether by design, accident or merely synchronicity, Checkland appears to have developed a habit of writing seminal publications near the start of each decade which establish the basis and framework for systems methodology research for that decade."" Hamish Rennie, Journal of the Operational Research Society, 1992 Thirty years ago Peter Checkland set out to test whether the Systems Engineering (SE) approach, highly successful in technical problems, could be used by managers coping with the unfolding complexities of organizational life. The straightforward transfer of SE to the broader situations of management was not possible, but by insisting on a combination of systems thinking strongly linked to real-world practice Checkland and his collaborators developed an alternative approach - Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) - which enables managers of all kinds and at any level to deal with the subtleties and confusions of the situations they face. This work established the now accepted distinction between hard systems thinking, in which parts of the world are taken to be systems which can be engineered, and soft systems thinking in which the focus is on making sure the process of inquiry into real-world complexity is itself a system for learning. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice (1981) and Soft Systems Methodology in Action (1990) together with an earlier paper Towards a Systems-based Methodology for Real-World Problem Solving (1972) have long been recognized as classics in the field. Now Peter Checkland has looked back over the three decades of SSM development, brought the account of it up to date, and reflected on the whole evolutionary process which has produced a mature SSM. SSM: A 30-Year Retrospective, here included with Systems Thinking, Systems Practice closes a chapter on what is undoubtedly the most significant single research programme on the use of systems ideas in problem solving. Now retired from full-time university work, Peter Checkland continues his research as a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow. "
series	other
last changed	2003/04/23 15:14

_id	04aa
authors	Harfmann, Anton C. and Chen, Stuart S.
year	1990
title	Building Representation within a Component Based Paradigm
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1990.117
source	From Research to Practice [ACADIA Conference Proceedings] Big Sky (Montana - USA) 4-6 October 1990, pp. 117-127
summary	This paper questions the use of a 2-dimensional medium to convey 3-dimensional information about design intent and proposes a computer-aided paradigm that could radically alter the way in which buildings are designed and built. The paradigm is centered about the accurate and rational representation (Rush, 86) of each individual component that makes up a building in a single, shared, computer based model. The single model approach couples the accurate physical representation of components with the accurate representation of technical information and knowledge about the assemblies of building components. It is anticipated that implementation of this approach will result in fewer communication problems that currently plague the fragmented process of practicing in the professions of architecture and engineering. The paper introduces the basic concepts within the paradigm and focuses on the development of intuitive, reasoning about the component-based design suitable for incorporation in a computer-aided setting.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:49

_id	8e10
authors	Hosny, Samir S., Sanvido, Victor E. and Kalisperis, Loukas N.
year	1990
title	A Framework for an Integrated Computer-Aided Architectural Design Decision Support System
source	Pennsylvania State University, January, 1990. 33 p. : ill. includes bibliography
summary	This paper presents the 'ICAAD.DSS' conceptual model, which provides a framework for an integrated computer-aided architectural design (CAAD) decision support system. The model is based on a unified approach to computing in architecture which in turn is based on a holistic view of the architectural design process. The proposed model shifts the focus from product to process, and views the design problem as a goal-oriented, problem solving activity that allows a design team to identify strategies and methodologies in the search for design solutions. This paper introduces a new environment for the use and integration of computers in the architectural design process
keywords	CAD, integration, design methods, architecture, design process, decision making, problem solving
series	CADline
last changed	2003/06/02 10:24

_id	6259
authors	Kalay, Yehuda E. and Majkowski, Bruce R.
year	1990
title	CAD Technology Transfer: A Case Study
doi	https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.acadia.1990.133
source	From Research to Practice [ACADIA Conference Proceedings] Big Sky (Montana - USA) 4-6 October 1990, pp. 133-143
summary	Transferring innovative university-based research results to the industry or practice that will ultimately use them is an arduous, time-consuming effort. One way to effect this technology transfer is to develop a demonstrable prototype product and then find or form a corporation that can expand the prototype into a full product and market it to the profession. Another way, which can shorten the transfer process, is to "sell" the idea, rather than the product, to a corporation that has the vision, the resources and the technical competency to support its development, with the intent to eventually market it. In this paper, we describe a case study of this latter approach, based on our seven year experience of researching, developing and transferring innovative architectural CAD technology. We describe the birth, growth, and maturity of Worldview, a computer-aided design and modeling system for use by architects. The project was initiated in 1983, and went through five software versions, numerous grants and grant extensions, two granting corporations, and extensive field testing. The software has developed into a mature system, with sufficient functionality appropriate for commercial distribution. The paper describes not only the factual chronology of the project, but also highlights the advantages and drawbacks of market-oriented university research. We conclude with suggestions as to how the process may be improved, and how problems and obstacles can be minimized.
series	ACADIA
email
last changed	2022/06/07 07:52

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